2024 Year-End Reflections and Resolutions from OHTO

Reflections…

Meghan James, Chief Governing Officer

This has been a year full of many highs within our communities and has given us much to celebrate within the region – and here at OHTO. It has been uplifting to watch our communities benefit from the return of tourism and to see how it has fostered development in ways that enhances not only the visitor experience, but the community as a whole.

This past year, the board has focused on how to better showcase the value of tourism within our region and our communities. 

Community-centered tourism plays a vital role in developing both the visitor and resident experience. Our ability to tell a better story of how tourism strengthens communities will enable us to not only attract more investment but will ensure both visitors and residents are benefiting from that investment.

Access to funding for investing in the tourism sector has always been a challenge for smaller, rural communities, but this past year we were grateful to leverage the provincial funding we received from the Ministry of Tourism Culture and Gaming with federal funding from the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario.   This additional support enabled us to expand our highly successful Ride the Highlands program and work with several municipalities on the development of a 350km rail trail cycling loop. 

While government funding is vital to tourism development, we are seeing inspiring work around the opportunities related to implementing a Municipal Accommodation Tax (MAT).  This revenue stream is significant and will provide financial sustainability, enabling communities to enhance both the promotion and development of their destinations.

Another positive impact on our communities this year was the return of international travelers. After the recent pause in international visitation, OHTO’s Travel Trade Partnership benefited from an injection of overseas visitors to the participating businesses, attractions, restaurants, hotels, motels, and more. Not only has this partnership put Ontario’s Highlands on the international map, it was also the recipient of the “Best Marketing Partnership” award at this year’s Ontario Tourism Summit.

The momentum in our region is a testament to our commitment and dedication to preserving and enhancing our communities and visitor experiences in positive and sustainable ways.  We are a destination that is leading the way and our “Wander Sustainably” approach has inspired our industry to elevate how they can become more sustainable, inclusive and connected with their community.  Winning the Sustainability Award at the 2024 Ontario Tourism Summit (our second of the night) was extremely validating and further proof we are all on the right path. 

As always, we encourage our members and stakeholders to get involved with OHTO, in any way they can. Whether that be through surveys, collaborations, training opportunities or in-person networking and tourism events. Our region is vibrant and full because of our members and their passion for creating a unique visitor experience. We look forward to creating some new and exciting tourism events and collaboration opportunities in the year to come.

Wishing everyone a happy and joyous filled holiday season, and we can’t wait to connect with you all in the New Year.

Resolutions….

Nicole Whiting, Executive Director

It’s hard to believe as we approach the end of 2024 our organization will be entering our 15th year of operations.  As we contemplate this significant anniversary, we are extremely grateful to the Province of Ontario for the ongoing annual funding commitment made through the Regional Tourism Organization program.  This consistent funding has helped build a solid foundation for our rural region to successfully collaborate on investment attraction, marketing, product and workforce development initiatives.  

Our content marketing strategy is producing consistent results, engagement with our audiences is showing impressive growth, and the quality of our content continues to improve.  This has not only elevated our destination brand but has created a powerful platform for visitors to develop relationships with the operators and communities offering the incredible experiences in our region. 

It cannot be overstated that our success marketing the destination is directly influenced by the quality of our offer. We are beyond excited about the momentum we are witnessing in sustainable destination development and proud to be working with an industry that understands success goes beyond the economic impact from tourism.  The experiences we offer visitors are the experiences that shape our quality of life in Ontario’s Highlands.  

This inherent relationship between visitors and residents creates a necessity to recognize investing in tourism isn’t just for the benefit of visitors.  

Tourism experiences provide the backdrop to strengthen social connections, civic engagement, cultural vibrancy, well-being through recreation, and appreciation for the environment.    

We are proud of the award-winning programs and supports we have been delivering to the industry over the years and are confident in the collaborative foundation we have in place to scale up our efforts with increased investment.   

This coming year OHTO will be calling upon our industry to assist us in engaging our broader community around the true value of tourism.  By creating opportunities to expand our conversations outside our sector we leverage our ability to strengthen our communities through responsible tourism. 

Wishing everyone a wonderful holiday season and we look forward to connecting with you in the new year!